Salt and Pepper Diamond – Pros, Cons and Buying Tips

Salt and pepper diamonds are one of the most
unique and fascinating types of diamonds but likely not for the reasons you’d
think. While other colored diamonds such as red or black diamonds are much
rarer and more highly valued, salt and pepper diamonds owe their uniqueness and
style to the fact that they are just so… not unique.

What do we mean by that?

Salt and pepper diamonds are colorless
diamonds that have many varying inclusions that they can’t pass as “quality
colorless” diamonds at all. Where other colored diamonds tend to have a homogenous
color, salt and pepper diamonds are a cacophony of lots of black, white, grey,
and other small colored inclusions that make them look like they’ve been “peppered”.

Essentially, salt and pepper diamonds are
colorless diamonds of such incredibly low quality that they’ve turned into
their own unique and desirable color grade that has begun to garner fans in
recent years!

Here’s what you need to know about buying a
salt and pepper diamond – the perfectly imperfect stone.

What Are Salt and Pepper Diamonds?

While with all other diamond colors we can mention the exact type
of chemical or physical inclusion that’s responsible for their color, with salt
and pepper diamonds there isn’t one single inclusion that’s responsible for
their unique look. Instead, salt and pepper diamonds look the way they look due
to a myriad of different inclusions they can have – the more diverse and
numerous these inclusions are, the more “peppery” the diamond looks.

In fact, salt and pepper diamonds can vary a lot from one another
too depending on the inclusions they have. They can be nearly black, grey,
milky or almost colorless. They can have strong green or yellow hues and they
can even have some rare red or orange hues at times.

The difference in these inclusions may or may not impact the price
of the salt and pepper stone but they are almost always relatively affordable
compared to other diamonds, and they always have a very unique look.

Are Salt and Pepper Diamonds in Style?

Unlike
most other colored diamonds, salt and pepper diamonds haven’t always been in
style. While colorless, yellow, green, and other diamonds have always been
sought after by royalty, celebrities, and other high enders, until recently,
salt and pepper diamonds were viewed as inferior quality and among the most
undesirable diamonds out there.

The
perception of these unique stones has changed in recent years, however, and
they’ve become quite stylish. Many people have started viewing these diamonds
as a color of their own and have come to appreciate their uniqueness. They are
very much in style today and, hopefully, their unique and often gorgeous look
will continue to get them the appreciation they deserve.

Moira: I wanted a non-traditional engagement ring and went with a salt and pepper diamond. I love the beauty of their imperfections which for me is so symbolic.

Best Ring Designs for Salt and Pepper Diamonds

As these diamonds don’t offer the
brilliance and luster of colorless diamonds, it’s not very relevant to consider
how the ring design is going to affect the stone’s performance. You can set
your salt and pepper diamond in any setting be it a halo, a bezel, a solitaire
or side stone setting, with the aim of maximizing its beauty and appearance.
Here are some stunning designs that demonstrate how versatile these diamonds
are:

Salt and pepper diamonds are highly
durable, but we would recommend a slightly more protective setting like a halo
or a bezel because these stones do tend to be more brittle than other diamonds
because of all their inclusions. Don’t take that to mean that they are “too
brittle”, however – they are still diamonds so they are still harder than any
other gemstone.

Salt and pepper diamonds look stunning in any
metal color, including white, yellow and rose gold. In short, because salt and
pepper diamonds can vary so much from one another in their color and look,
picking the right setting and design is done mostly on a case-by-case basis.

Salt and Pepper Diamond Durability

This is probably the main question people have when it comes to salt and pepper diamonds. Like any other diamond, salt and pepper diamonds also rank 10 on the Mohs scale. It’s hard enough to be used in jewelry and is highly resistant to scratches.

However, the issue is with the toughness of the stone. Salt and pepper diamonds are very brittle because of all their inclusions, which can cause the stone to break or chip if dealt a hard blow. This, of course, depends on the individual diamond and the type and number of inclusions it has.

Overall, if mounting a salt and pepper diamond in an engagement ring, you could opt for a protective setting. Also avoid using ultrasonic cleaners which can cause the diamond to break and avoid using harsh and abrasive cleaners on the stone.

If carefully crafted and reasonably maintained, a salt and pepper diamond ring can last a very long time.

The Color of Salt and Pepper Diamonds

Salt and pepper diamonds are so obscure and
different from other colored diamonds that it’s even difficult to put them on
the same color intensity scale as brown, green or yellow diamonds.

Where other colored diamonds can be spread
between the following 9 color intensity grades – Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Dark, Fancy Intense,
Fancy Vivid, Fancy Deep – salt and pepper diamonds are much harder to
categorize in such a way.

It’s not
outright impossible, of course, we can still compare the body of the diamond and
how much its color is affected by the “peppered” inclusions – whether
the overall appearance of the stone is more milky or darker grey, etc.

However,
trying to adapt salt and pepper diamonds to this scale is simply pointless –
their unique appearance lies precisely in how diverse they look.

So,
instead of judging the value of salt and pepper stones on their relative
intensity or color, they are mostly judged on the diversity and intensity of
their inclusions and the overall look they give each individual diamond.

How Do the 4Cs Apply to Salt and Pepper Diamonds?

The 4Cs of salt and pepper diamonds are
another reason to love them because they are almost the opposite to those of
the standard colorless diamonds.

While the color of a colorless diamond
needs to be as clear as possible, the countless inclusions of a salt and pepper
diamond are what makes it unique and beautiful.

Where the clarity of a colorless diamond is
best when there are little to no visible or even invisible to the naked eye
inclusions, with salt and pepper diamonds the clarity is all but irrelevant –
you want your salt and pepper diamond
to have as many inclusions as possible but not too many so as to make it a black diamond.

And while the cut in colorless diamonds is chosen to enhance the brilliance of the diamond and to hide whatever inclusions it might have, in salt and pepper diamonds the cut’s main goal is to showcase and accent the inclusions as much as possible. That’s why there really isn’t one “best” cut for salt and pepper diamonds. Cutters choose whichever cut will be best for each individual stone’s inclusions. As a result, you can expect to find many salt and pepper diamonds in uncommon cuts and shapes such as hexagons, kites, pears, step cuts, rose cuts, coffins (yep, those exist, like this stunning coffin cut diamond ring), in addition to the more standard cuts like round, cushion and radiant cuts.

Salt and Pepper Diamond Value

Salt and pepper diamonds may have been
unpopular throughout much of history but they’ve been rising as of late. This,
of course, means that their perceived value and price have also increased and most
quality salt and pepper diamonds or rings are now often in the 4-digit price
range. Nevertheless, they are still more affordable than other colored diamonds
a quality colorless diamonds so they do present a good bargain.

On the other hand, given that salt and
pepper diamonds aren’t exactly rare, their overall rising price is more
market-driven than supply-driven, meaning that their market price is higher
than their production price.

Best Alternatives for Salt and Pepper Diamonds

Almost all colored and colorless diamonds
have synthetic and treated alternatives nowadays, but salt and pepper diamonds
don’t seem to be artificially manufactured. The reason for this is likely that
they are already abundant and inexpensive enough so that they don’t need
synthetic alternatives.

Since salt and pepper diamonds have such a
unique look they don’t really have that many natural gemstone alternatives out
there, especially not ones suitable for engagement rings.

One notable gemstone exception you might want to take a look at, however, is the grey moissanite. Moissanite is mostly lab-grown as natural moissanite can only be found in meteorites. And that’s pretty much the case of grey moissanite, like this gray moissanite ring, which can look somewhat similar to salt and pepper diamond rings.

Salt and Pepper Diamond Symbolism

Since salt and pepper diamonds are so new
to the popular market and haven’t really been viewed as a viable jewelry option
throughout history, they don’t have as much ascribed meanings and symbolism as
other colored diamonds or gemstones. In fact, they pretty much have no typical
symbolism or supposed beneficial effects on the wearer.

Whether that’s a negative or a positive is
up to the wearer, we suppose, but if we were to ascribe some symbolism to these
curious diamonds it’d be that they symbolize the rise to prominence of the always
ignored and underappreciated underdog.